I remember when the standard pack cloth was 6oz "Pack Cloth". Then cordura came out and the fabric weights doubled, then ballistic came out. Heavier weight cloths, about twice the weight, don't really seem to have been any more durable, and were decidedly less water resistant, and less rugged in the seams. Cordura just looks so durable, and is more abrassion resistant for hauling over rocks on big walls, though it's inadequate for that use.

People have vastly different uses in mind for their gear, but average road touring does not strike me as terribly punishing. For instance, consider carrying 40 pounds of gear plus consumables. that would be 10 pounds in each panier. vs. 40 pounds in a pack. And backpacking people carry ridiculous gear, which is part of the reason the ultralite stuff is catching on.

While it's no big deal overall, part of the resistance to ultralite in bike touring might be that they don't look like touring bikes. I like touring gear, and how it has involved, and sure, it will continue to change. But look at the popularity of the LHT, the big bike racks and paniers are pretty popular. Follow the Ray Jardine route, and you can just throw a 10 pound pack on the top of your real rack, and hop on that just bought Walmart special. Ray is carrying less gear in total than the weight of some paniers. That's a paradigm shift that could sweep away a lot of stuff. And on a high mountain trek, you are really living out of the 8 pound pack (+consumables). On a bike you can stop at stores, markets, and restaurants. It shouldn't be as hard to cut back on the gear.